


On Saturday Nights, the Robots Race

by MassiveSpaceWren



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bucky is a nerd, M/M, Misunderstandings, Tony Stark Needs Sleep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-22 15:52:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13767441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MassiveSpaceWren/pseuds/MassiveSpaceWren
Summary: Tony is bored and sleep deprived. He calls Rhodey to the rescue, but that's not who shows up.





	On Saturday Nights, the Robots Race

**Author's Note:**

  * For [celtic7irish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/celtic7irish/gifts).



> Celtic7irish posted a small prompt on the Winteriron discord, which I couldn't help but derail a little and write a short thing for it :)
> 
> A big thank you to [Rebelmeg](http://archiveofourown.org/users/rebelmeg/pseuds/rebelmeg) for betaing!!

Tony stares.

The hands of the clock tick onwards slowly, another minute passed. How could it only have been a minute?!

Tony turns on his other side to at least not see how slow the time is passing. He can still hear the damn ticking. This position gets uncomfortable after only a few seconds and Tony whines pathetically.

He just can't sleep. It’s Saturday night; he's tired, and _bored_ , but still too keyed up to sleep.

Mumbling, he fumbles for his phone. The light of the display almost blinds him in the dark room. He squints, but his fingers then fly over the display to type in the message.

"I'm bored, come play with me!"

He scrolls through his contacts and quickly hits send. Rhodey might still be up, and if he is, he might just know him well enough to come and help Tony overcome this agony of boredom.

Tony hisses when he turns the lights on, it's just not fair that lamps always have to be so _bright_. He should invent one that doesn't sear your retina off when turning on at night. Dark lamps, this is a good idea.

Tony rummages through the cupboards for coffee and even finds a pack of half-eaten cookies. The coffee drips slowly through the machine. Maybe he could invent a machine that could boil things faster. He'd just have to heat it a lot more. Add some high pressure machinery, so the water would be hot but wouldn't boil, and he could probably make coffee in a very short time-

The shrill sound of the doorbell stops his train of thought.

Tony jumps up, half shuffling and half skipping to open the door. Rhodey will distract him!

He is about to jump at Rhodey when he swings open the door, but stops dead in his tracks.

A tall, brunette man wearing a leather jacket and jeans is leaning casually in his doorway. His hair is long enough to fall into his face and his scruff only adds to his roguish charm. That shoulder width and the muscular thighs are almost unreal.

Tony gapes. That is decidedly not Rhodey.

"I got your message. You said you wanted someone to _play_ with you?" The stranger smirks.

Tony's eyes flit up and down the man's body, then down himself, and at his tiny dorm room. He's standing here in ratty jeans and a greasy tank top and hasn't tidied in what feels like ages.

This deer in headlights response must have been taking longer than Tony thought, as the man's smile turns shy and a bit confused. "I'm James? We met at the bar the other night?"

"Yes! Hi!" Tony's voice is squeaky and not at all fitting for a sexy one night stand.

Tony quickly scrolls through his contacts, and barely suppresses a groan when he sees "James" directly above "James Rhodey Platypus Rhodes". He remembers now. At the bar, Tony talked to James for a bit, he seemed witty and full of snark.

Tony tries to fight down his blush. James _is_ incredibly handsome and Tony wants him to stay.

The last few one night stands weren't all that great, and his little fling with Ty was the opposite of fun, but he could be up for a night of wild sex. Bucky sure looks like the type to get a bit rough.

His tired brain must have taken too long for this thought process, though, because James scratches his head and looks around awkwardly. "I could come in? I mean, if you want me to?" James really has to stop smiling so nicely, if he wants Tony's brain to keep working.

James walks past him when Tony nods and steps aside. Almost every surface in the room is covered with circuitry or metal parts, sometimes piled on top of lecture notes. James pulls his shoes off and drops his jacket on the floor next to a pile of Tony's clothing and sits on the bed. Damn this man, with just the T-shirt, Tony can see even more of his glorious musculature.

Tony walks over, trying to look confident. He sinks down onto the bed, close to James, but far enough to not seem brash.

James is rummaging through his bag and frowns when he looks up. "No, move up a bit, we'll need the space," James shoos him further away.

Tony scrambles back, his face clearly showing his confusion, but James is already looking into his bag again. What the hell has this guy planned?

Moments later, James's face lights up. "Okay, so I got RoboRally, which is a _great_ game, and you said like robots, right?"

Tony stares at the brightly coloured board game box James is holding out towards him. When he takes it, he still can't help to gape dumbfounded at the illustrated little robots, driving around a hazardous playing field. "Huh." He can't quite say more while his brain catches up on the situation.

"It might not be best for just two players. I also have some classics, like playing cards and Chess and Go, if you like those more?" James is still looking hopeful.

Tony finds himself smiling widely. He can't remember the last time someone he flirted with really wanted to spend time with him, and with a game about robots nonetheless.

"Come on, let's get going. Tell me how to set it up." Tony looks down towards the box, hoping James can't see how smitten he already is.

 ----

A week later, Tony shows James his lab, and there is no mistaking the fond and amazed look he gives Tony when being introduced to Dum-E.

“So, RoboRally _was_ a good idea.” He grins over at Tony.

Tony couldn’t help but beam back at him. “Yep. Good idea.”

James rubs his hands together and gets a manic gleam in his eyes. “So, time to build an obstacle course.”

**Author's Note:**

> Pssst, join the discord Winteriron server [HERE](https://discord.gg/A32YB6Y) ;)


End file.
